Apple considers Gigabyte as motherboard partner

Foxconn is ok, but...

The rumour on the street is that giant Taiwanese mobo maker Gigabyte has a clear very good chance of becoming a partner of the Mighty Apple.

Foxconn - also known as Hon Hai - has a bit of a tangled relationship with Apple following all sorts of trouble and strife. Its PR profile is a bit muddled while Gigabyte's is squeaky clean. Squeakier than clean, actually.

Sources close to Gigabyte reckon it is in with a chance to support Apple "platforms", with an announcement likely at the end of the month.

Gigabyte, of course, would be qualified to offer Apple a lot of Intel support and USB 3.0 too, now that the price of controller chips are dropping like Newton's apples from the tree.

And, you know, it all makes sense because Gigabyte, like Foxconn and Asustek, is a tier one mobo player. And is probably prepared to offer Apple a "je ne sais quoi" on pricing, compared to Hon Hai Precision Industrial Company Limited.

Apple could not be contacted for comment at press time, naturelllement. Foxconn has no clear direction for its motherboards during 2010, according to informed sources at the giant. No doubt Asustek will have something to say, but a clear attraction for Apple is USB 3.0. Gigabyte is Superspeed ready.